At a conference in London he focused on the privately-funded further education sector in particular, explaining that it is "subject to less regulation and is more open to abuse".

Mr Green added: "We want to make sure that every student who comes to this country is a legitimate student following a legitimate course."

Around 273,000 UK visas were issued to students in 2009, with a further 30,000 issued to their dependants, according to Mr Green. The minister explained that this makes the student route the largest source of UK immigration.

Earlier this week, it was suggested that the consultation on student visas could be unlawful.

Law firm Penningtons suggested that it was unclear what the coalition wished to achieve with the consultation, mentioning that they may have used misleading data to support their points.